Bay area athlete is off to China!
I’m leaving very soon for a month in China and parts east!
Please don’t tell me (like everyone does) that I’ve missed the Olympics. My favorite part of the Olympics is still to come.
The Paralympics are the 
Olympic Games for physically disabled athletes. They are always held in the same city, at the same venues as the Olympics, just a couple weeks afterward. The Paralympic cauldron has now been lit in Beijing.
I’m flying from Tampa to Beijing as a die-hard Paralympic fan, but another Bay-area resident is going to represent our country as an athlete.
Bradenton’s Paul Schulte, of the Tampa Bay Rays Wheelchair Softball team (I wrote about them before) will be playing on the U.S. Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team.
A captain for the silver medal-winning 2006 World Championships Team, he also earned a gold medal and MVP honors at the 2002 Gold Cup. After sitting out the 2004 Paralympic Games, Schulte returns to the team looking to put the U.S. atop the medal stand in Beijing.
Schulte made his Paralympic Games debut during the 2000 Games in Sydney. At age 21, he was Team USA’s youngest player. That year, the team went on to win the bronze medal.
Our long association with Wheelchair Rugby (aka “Murderball”) has earned my husband & I accreditation and prime seating at the 2008 Games. I’m looking forward to seeing our old friends in this small world of sports, learning about Asia, and cheering for Team USA!
More links:
- Paul Schulte personal website
- Tampabay’s 10 story: 2008 Paralympics: Bradenton man ready, willing and able
